Ballardian

Similarly, I missed this post from Tom K. when it first appeared at The New Ennui, but it’s worth going back to. Tom has distilled elements of Ballard’s life and skilfully combined them in a highly amusing faux-cookbook style. Thrillingly, he has also given us a rather delicious recipe to try at home, as well as reminding us of the key moments in Ballard’s career.

If we must have the intensely irritating celebrity chef phenomenon in this world, give me JGB over Jamie Oliver any day.

James Graham Ballard, aged 76, gathers together the following ingredients: 1.5 kg of chuck steak, cut into 5 cm pieces; 3 tablespoons of olive oil; 1 large carrot and 1 large onion, both peeled and cut into chunks; 2 sticks of celery (which the author of The Drowned World chops roughly); 3 bottles of burgundy wine (one for enjoying with Claire Walsh); 2 sprigs of fresh thyme; 1 head of garlic, cut in half horizontally; 4 bay leaves; 50gs of unsalted butter (purchased at the Metro-Centre); 225 g whole pieces of pancetta; 450 g of shallots, which the prominent member of the New Wave of science fiction has peeled; 2 tablespoons of flour; 375 g of chestnut mushrooms; 290 ml of fresh beef stock; 5 tablespoons of brandy; and a handful of flatleaf parsley, chopped by an author intent on brutalizing every human sympathy, according to Paul Theroux in his review of Crash. …

Devour the rest of this recipe at The New Ennui.